Co-forged golf club head and method of manufacture

• US 10,722,767 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2019
• Issued: 07/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Deshmukh, Uday V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hunter, Alvin A
• Application Number:
  US16/275,445
• Publication Number:
  US 20190175997A1
• Time in Patent Office: 530 Days
• Field of Search: 473324-350
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2053/0491 with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/00 Characteristics of used materials
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0416 Heads having an impact surface provided by a face insert
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/042 the face insert consisting of a material different from that of the head
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0425 the face insert comprising two or more different materials
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0433 with special sole configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/047 iron-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0475 with one or more enclosed cavities
• CPC Class Codes: B21K 17/00 Making sport articles, e.g. skates

Abstract

A forged golf club face has a continuous outer layer of a first material encasing at least one inner layer made of second material. The materials may have differing properties, such as Young'"'"'s Modulus, density, and strength properties, among others. By incorporating the different materials into the outer layer and the inner layer, the coefficient of restitution (COR) of the golf club face is improved without sacrificing durability. The club face is forged from a pre-formed billet having at least one monolithically encased inner layer.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising:

a crown made at least partially from a first material;

a sole made at least partially from the first material; and

a forged multi-material striking face attached to at least a portion of the sole and the crown, the forged multi-material striking face comprising;

a continuous outer layer made of the first material; and

an inner layer made of a second material, the inner layer being fully encased by the continuous outer layer, wherein the inner layer is substantially centered within the continuous outer layer and wherein the first material has a lower Young'"'"'s modulus than a Young'"'"'s modulus of the second material.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein a top boundary of the inner layer is disposed a first distance from a top edge of the striking face, and wherein a bottom boundary of the inner layer is disposed a second distance from a bottom edge of the striking face, and wherein the first distance and the second distance are substantially the same.

3. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein a central axis of the inner layer is spaced evenly between a top edge and a bottom edge of the striking face.

4. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the first material has a higher density than the second material.

5. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the crown is joined to a top edge of the striking face and the sole is joined to a bottom edge of the striking face.

6. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the first material displays a corrosion resistance greater than a corrosion resistance of the second material.

7. The golf club head of claim 6, wherein the Young'"'"'s modulus of the first material is at least 80 GPa.

8. The golf club head of claim 7, wherein the Young'"'"'s modulus of the second material is at least 200 GPa.

9. The golf club head of claim 8, wherein the Young'"'"'s modulus of the striking face is about 140 GPa.

10. A golf club head comprising:

a sole; and

a forged multi-material striking face, the striking face comprising;

a continuous outer layer made of a first material, wherein the continuous outer layer has a first thickness;

a continuous middle layer made of a second material, the continuous middle layer being fully encased by the continuous outer layer, wherein the continuous middle layer has a second thickness that is greater than the first thickness; and

an inner layer made of a third material, the inner layer being fully encased by the continuous middle layer, wherein at least one of the third material or the second material has a Young'"'"'s modulus that is less than the Young'"'"'s modulus of the first material.

11. The golf club head of claim 10, wherein the first thickness is less than about 50% of the second thickness.

12. The golf club head of claim 11, wherein the first thickness is less than about 10% of the second thickness.

13. The golf club of claim 10, wherein the first material displays a corrosion resistance greater than a corrosion resistance of the second material.

14. The golf club head of claim 10, further comprising a crown, wherein the crown and the sole are substantially made of the first material.

15. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the crown is joined to a top edge of the striking face and the sole is joined to a bottom edge of the striking face.

16. The golf club head of claim 10, wherein the first material is a first type of steel, the second material is a second type of steel, and the third material is at least one of a titanium or a titanium alloy.

17. A golf club head comprising:

a forged multi-material striking face forming a striking surface and a rear surface, wherein the striking face is one of a face insert, a face cup, or a partial face cup and the striking face comprises;

a continuous outer layer made of a first material; and

an inner layer made of a second material, wherein the inner layer is fully encased by the continuous outer layer and is positioned to increase a coefficient of restitution of the striking face, wherein a center point of the inner layer is located a first distance from the striking surface and a second distance from the rear surface, the first distance being less than the second distance.

18. The golf club head of claim 17, wherein the first material has a higher Young'"'"'s modulus than the second material.

19. The golf club head of claim 17, further comprising a crown and sole connected to the striking face, wherein the crown and the sole are made of the same material as the continuous outer layer of the striking face.

20. The golf club head of claim 17, wherein the first material has a higher corrosion resistance than a corrosion resistance of the second material.